Gary W. Hill is a professor of music and director of bands emeritus at Arizona State University, where he taught from 1999 to 2019. He is one of the most sought-after guest conductors and clinicians in the field of wind band. As a conductor, he has appeared in more than a dozen countries and throughout the United States with many professional ensembles, college and university wind bands and orchestras, myriad high school and collegiate honor ensembles (including dozens of All-State bands), at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and at World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles conferences. As a clinician, Hill has presented hundreds of workshops on conducting and rehearsal techniques for music teachers and conductors of all levels and has worked with thousands of bands and orchestras and their teachers. Hill is currently a Conn-Selmer educational clinician.
Prior to his appointment at ASU, Hill was director of bands at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music (1986–99) and East Texas A&M University (1982–86), as well as associate director of bands at the University of Colorado, Boulder (1980–82). He also served as founding music director for the Kansas City Youth Wind Ensemble and as conductor of newEar, a professional chamber ensemble devoted to contemporary music. Hill began his teaching career in Michigan, where he served as director of bands at the Traverse City (1977–80) and West Bloomfield (1974–77) public schools.
High school, university, and professional ensembles under Hill’s direction have given performances for the National Band Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the College Band Directors National Association, the American Bandmasters Association, the International Horn Symposium, the National Flute Association, at many state conventions, and throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Performances conducted by him have consistently drawn praise from composers, performing musicians, and critics alike for their insightful, inspired, and cohesive realizations and for their imaginative programming.
During Hill’s thirty-nine years as a collegiate conducting teacher, he taught undergraduate and graduate conducting students and served as the primary mentor for fifty-five master’s and doctoral wind band conducting students, eight of whom became conductors of U.S. Armed Forces ensembles and other professional groups, and forty-four won university teaching positions.
Hill remains active as a guest conductor, teacher, and clinician and continues to be involved in research exploring biochemical reactions spawned by musical processes, the neurobiology of the art and craft of conducting, and the past, present, and future of instrumental music in schools. Additionally, he is a passionate lover of dog training and the sport of dog agility, and frequently weaves lessons learned from this pastime into his teaching.
Hill is the author or coauthor of numerous articles published in music journals (CBDNA Journal, WASBE Journal, Bands of America, National Association of Schools of Music, AMEA Journal, among others) and in other journals, proceedings, and books, including the Acoustical Society of America, The Oxford Handbook of Making Music and Leisure, and Hormones and Behavior. Hill has discussed his research as a speaker at numerous regional, national, and international meetings.
Gary W. Hill is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Bandmasters Association and the College Band Directors National Association for which he hosted the Fiftieth Anniversary National Conference (1991), cohosted the 2019 biennial national conference, as well as the joint conferences of the North Central and Southwestern Divisions in conjunction with The Society for American Music (1998), served as president of the Southwestern Division (1989–91), and as national president (2003–05). Hill is the recipient of numerous professional grants and honors, including CBDNA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
